Warming temperatures caused by climate change are set to weaken wind energy in the northern hemisphere, a study shows, while a boost in wind in the southern hemisphere could turn north-east Australia into an attractive investment for wind farm energy companies.

A controversial hazardous waste storage facility and salt mine planned for Central Australia — which would be the first repository of its kind in Australia — is given the tick of approval by the NT's Environment Protection Authority.

While the spread of a pest fish in far north Queensland poses a significant threat to native species, it gives residents a great excuse to go fishing, with 70 kilograms caught by local children over the weekend.

The leader of an Australian-founded group that won this year's Nobel Peace Prize urges nuclear nations to adopt a United Nations treaty banning atomic weapons, saying one "moment of panic or carelessness" could lead to "the end of us".

The Bougainville Government is holding a crucial mining warden's hearing at an abandoned copper mine which sparked a decade-long armed insurgency against the Papua New Guinea Government to determine if Bougainville Copper Limited will retain its lease.

The Asian giant's ban on foreign rubbish is reverberating through Australia's waste industry, but local operators see it as a wake-up call which should serve as the trigger to take responsibility for our own waste and transition to a cleaner economy.

Lawyers acting for 6,000 people seeking compensation in the wake of the deadly flood disaster have told day four of court hearings they will vigorously defend claimants against accusations of "contributory negligence" being levelled by the Wivenhoe Dam operator.

Environment TV & Videos

Beverley O'Connor talks to Dr Leonid Petrov, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University and a leading North Korea researcher, about US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's offer to begin talks with North Korea without pre-conditions.